Proof

WRITE YOUR STORY about your MST Experience. Talk to your MST Coordinator who will let you know if you are ready to do this. I was told it would help me, which it did. No one else will read it without your permission. It is private. It is going to trigger you. You will be facing MST all over again. It will make you start remembering things. Read how MST has affected you  and our pages about M&F–Q&A-Thoughts- Feelings-Reasoning-Reactions-Common Misconceptions.  Here are examples of ” Rape Victims’ Stories ” You will see you’re not alone. Stories by MST survivors can serve as lessons for other victims. It is totally up to you if you want to share it anywhere.

This story is NOT your statement to the VA to support your claim. It will help you to write it. View Our Claims Page.

How to start: Write a sentence-line-note by every marker. Combine them in any order. Your story will begin to develop.  Include who what why where when and how.  Who were you before and after the MST took place?

The VA looks for these Markers *:  

Records from official sources*

  • Law enforcement
  • Rape crisis centers
  • Mental health counseling centers
  • Hospitals
  • Physicians
  • Pregnancy tests
  • Tests for sexually transmitted diseases

Statements from others*

  • Family members
  • Roommates
  • Clergy members
  •  Fellow Service members
  • Counselors

Other Markers*

  • Requests for transfer to another military duty assignment
  • Decrease in work performance
  • Substance abuse

Episodes of the following without clear cause*:

  • Depression
  • Panic attacks
  • Anxiety
  • Unexplained behavior (economic or social)
  • Relationship issues like divorce
  • Sexual dysfunction

Markers not generated by the VA

  • wanting a gender change
  • unexpected  transfer from your unit generated by the one who committed the MST
  • current diagnosis from a medical provider for PTSD

Other factors about rape

  • sexual assault must be done without the victim’s consent and by means of force, coercion, fraud, or threats
  • victims’ promiscuity is not a defense
  • sexual activity prior to the rape was consensual is not a defense
  • the victim was unable to give consent due to a mental or physical disorder or disability, too intoxicated to consent, or not conscious enough to understand the nature of the act 
  • journals or diaries that you kept at the time of the trauma.
  • corroborating evidence including cell phones emails, texts, social media posts, instant messaging records
  • establish elements of force, threat, or fear
  • document the specific details of the allegation all the way down to condom use
  • DNA evidence that is unique to the defendant
  • write down the tone of voice and action during the rape
  • details about how the rape took place
  • evidence of the reputation of the accused for sexual morality 
  • evidence phone records or location data establishes that the incident didn’t occur where the suspect was
  • does the rapist have a criminal record

The VA is NOT permitted to consider if an individual reported the incident at the time it took place. Instead, the VA looks for markers to show if you suffered from trauma around the time frame the event occurred. Markers can be found through documentation or through first-hand accounts of friends, coworkers, and family. 

For any VA disability compensation claim to be successful, there must be:

  •  A current physical or mental condition that affects your body or mind; and
  • An event, injury, or illness that happened while you were serving in the military; and
  • A link between your current disability and the event, injury, or disease that happened during your military service

Your story is PROOF and can be used to write your VA Statement for a Claim.

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